Family
by Rin-Rin Yu Die
Summary: He woke up without an arm and being tended to by a wanted criminal. As Sesshomaru heals, he's introduced to a ragtag family he slowly becomes apart of. Can he leave them forever or can family triumph?


**Family**

She was beautiful. He wasn't fond of humans, that was for sure, but he had no problem admitting that occasionally, their women were beautiful. Well, maybe he couldn't admit it out loud but he could admit it to himself and really, that was all the truly mattered.

"Oh, you're awake!" The woman he was admiring finally noticed his open eyes and hurried to his side. He said nothing in reply, just watched her hands with distrust.

She might've been pretty but she was still human and humans were treacherous snakes.

"This may sting a little but it's for your own good."

She took a cloth and dipped it into a wooden bowl of what he assumed to be water. She put it to one of his many wounds and dapped delicately. It did sting surprisingly. Normally something like this had no effect on him. Something was off.

He'd had a strange feeling inside of him since the moment he'd woken up. It nagged at him that something was wrong but he didn't listen, instead choosing to take in his surroundings. He was on a futon in a hut. A fire danced in the centre, cooking the underside of a chicken. Odd, he realized, humans didn't eat meat as far as he could tell. It went against a religious value if he remembered correctly. There were bloodied rags thrown into a pile in the corner, along with bloody bandages and soiled clothing. Herbs hung from beams and shelves, stinking up the room with odd smells. On the only shelf not holding something used in medicinal practice, was a pile of scrolls.

He was very obviously in the care of a priestess as they were the only ones that new anything about medicine in human society. It was forbidden for an average person to learn medicine.

However, if she was a priestess, it brought him back to the fact she was cooking meat. Again, humans, especially priestesses, didn't eat meat. Fish was the closet they came to it. It was a shame, meat was much tastier than fish but it really didn't matter in the long run. He could eat meat and that's all that mattered.

She dipped the cloth back into the bowl and started pressing it to another of his wounds. It still stung more than usual.

"I'm sorry; I gave you an herb that has a side effect of amplifying physical feelings like temperature and pain. However it stops heavy bleeding and you were bleeding very heavily."

"Are you a priestess?" he finally managed to say.

"No, I'm not. I didn't meet the requirements."

"I thought those that couldn't become a priestess but trained in that field were killed."

"I managed to escape."

So they were real, he thought. Humans managing to escape the strict policies that their kind set in place. They were thought to be a legend, a fairy tale to those who dreamed of freedom and a nightmare to any high-ranking official or even to the people. A person who escaped the pitiful life they lived in human eyes were monsters. Odd, she certainly didn't seem to be a monster. She was perfectly fine in fact, kind and not as odd as the rest of her species.

"Are you hungry?"

She set the bowl aside and threw the cloth on the pile. Were those all cloths that had been used to treat his wounds? How badly injured was he?

"Yes."

"The food should be just about done." She walked away from the fire and grabbed a light green herb. "This'll numb pain. After you eat I need to attend to you shoulder and that would just be torture if I didn't give you something to ease pain."

"What's wrong with my shoulder?"

"Well…" she looked towards the fire. Her hand clenched into a fist and a sigh escaped her lips. She turned to face him again, an air of determination about her."

"You left arm is gone."

His eyes widened as he shot up into a sitting position. He tried to move the left arm that wasn't there and found that nothing happened. His right hand reached over to touch it and found only his shoulder. She wasn't lying, there was nothing there. It was gone, non-existent. How hadn't he noticed yet? Certainly something like missing an arm was hard to miss.

"How?"

"I don't know," she replied. She looked down at the herb in her hands, sweat on her brow and fear in the air. "I found you just lying in the forest. You were in such bad shape I thought you were dead. I went to check and you were alive but barely. I-I… I couldn't just leave you there. That would be cruel and inhumane-"

"A normal human would."

"A _desensitized, monstrous_ human would, yes."

"Is that what the rest of you kind are then? Are you the only real human or are you the only kind human?"

"Real human."

His eyebrow twitched. In all of his years, he'd never once met a kind human, even before the laws had been instated. They had never been kind, always cruel and self-centred. It was human to be that way, to be kind wasn't.

"Anyways, I brought you here and treated you wounds. You've healed a lot since I brought you here a week ago." She broke of a piece of the herb and told him to open his mouth. She put it on his tongue and he chewed it a little before swallowing, mulling over what she said.

He'd been out for an entire week and he didn't ever know what knocked him out. He needed to know what did this to him so he could get them back. Obviously it was a surprise attack, he thought. Well probably, he didn't remember much of what had happened recently. His mind was still very blurry. Maybe it was a side effect of one of her herbs.

"So what's your name," she said as she took the chicken off the fire. She place it on a wooden plate and began to strip the skin away from the chicken.

"Sesshomaru."

"My name's Kagome."

She put his pieces on a plate and handed it to him. Normally he'd hold it in his left hand while picking up the pieces with his right. This time he placed it on his lap. It might have been a small thing but it was so odd to him that it stood out to him more than the fact Kagome was technically a wanted criminal.

When he was done, Kagome undid the bandages on his left shoulder as he watched. Even he found the amounts a mauling and blood that was his shoulder disturbing yet Kagome didn't even flinch. He guessed that being able to withstand even the most gruesome of scenes was a requirement of being a priestess.

"Why couldn't you become a priestess?"

"I don't have spiritual powers."

She finished rewrapping his shoulder, and then walked over to her pile of scrolls. She plucked the one on top, picked up a brush and a bottle of ink and sat beside him to write something. He didn't read what she wrote even if he was curious. Since awakening he'd been pretty bad about withstanding his curious nature. He'd given in and asked questions which only left him with more. He hated the feeling of not knowing everything but he found that asking questions never made the feeling go away. He was still as curious in the end as he was in the beginning.

"Why were you chosen to train as a priestess then?"

Though her original answer had been said long before, he was still curious. Damn his resolve to not ask questions, it was all too much. He'd ask as many as he wanted. She'd probably die long before she could tell anyone about the curious side of his personality.

"My entire family had powers, the strongest in the world actually. It was just naturally expected that I'd gain them but I never did. Because of it, I…"

"Can never see your family again," he finished for her.

"Yes. I miss them so much."

* * *

A week had passed since he first woke up and he found that despite the fact Kagome was a wanted criminal, she took daily strolls through the forest. He warned her against it one evening but she just shrugged it off.

Kagome was currently off on one of her strolls. Sesshomaru had to admit that he was slightly concerned for her safety. She was a very nice person, nicer than he'd even realized on the night he woke up.

"Kagome-chan, I got the latest news fr-"

Two women stopped in their tracks at the sight of Sesshomaru. One was short and scrawny, maybe thirteen or fourteen. She had large brown eyes that made her look like a deer that had just been caught. The other woman was older and more filled out. She was probably Kagome's age.

"Who are you," the older one said. The younger girl was inching behind her elder partner, scared tremendously. Such a timid thing, he thought.

"Sesshomaru."

"Where's Kagome?"

"Out walking."

"Damn it," the older girl hissed, her fist flying into the wall. A temper, he noted. The younger girl squeaked, darting out from behind the other girl. "I've told her not to go walking, it's dangerous."

"I warned her too."

"Sango? Rin?"

Kagome stood in the doorway, eyes wide, carrying a basket filled to the brim with vegetables and herbs. Her priestess clothing was covered in dirt. She smelled of sweat, water, and earth. Her hair was tied back, and the was a smudge of mud just above her eyebrow. She set the basket down and hugged the girls, whispering welcome back.

"Good to be back," the older one said.

"I-I m-missed you Kagome," the younger one said.

Sesshomaru cleared his throat, reminding Kagome of his presence.

"Oh yeah. Sesshomaru, this is Sango," she said gesturing to the older women. "Watch out, her temper is from hell. And this is Rin." She pulled the young girl against her side. Rin smiled nervously. "She'll warm up after a little bit."

He nodded his greeting. Sango eyed him warily and Rin nodded back.

"Anyways, I have food and a replenished stock of herbs. Rin, please go wash the herbs and then hang them up while me and Sango make dinner."

"Okay, Lady Kagome."

Rin disappeared and the two women set about their work.

"Sango, what's new?"

"Well, besides that fact that your parents are once more making a desperate plea for you to just come out of hiding and except that you failed your duty and to feel the consequences, the government has also issued a higher monetary reward for your capture. As you're currently the only person that hasn't submitted to their idiocies, they need you gone. I have the scroll in my bag if you want to read it. There's some more information I got from Miroku that I haven't had a chance to read through. It's also in there."

Kagome sighed.

"Anyone ask for your identification?"

"Kagome, you know I stay away from anywhere that we'd be asked for identification if I had Rin along. She'd be killed as soon as we couldn't provide it."

"Why?" Sesshomaru finally piped in.

"In the eyes of the government, Rin doesn't exist. She wasn't born from a matchmaker's match and therefore not a legal child."

He nodded. He knew all the human laws, every single stupid one of them there was. Most humans didn't even know all the laws.

All of the laws had been instated to keep the human population from going extinct. They had been very nearly there when Jomo Kanato seized control of the weak, corrupt government and enacted the harshest laws in history. All humans had to serve a purpose or they were to be killed. Kagome didn't match the service she'd been intended for so she was to be killed. Nature was to be revered and that everything detailing how to make electronics were burned along with all electronics. Humans reverted the world to the way it had been thousands of years ago.

Another set of laws he'd enacted, the birth laws, dictated that the only way to have a child was to get a match from a matchmaker. That would be the only person you could have child with. It was enacted to keep unwanted genes out of the gene pool and create ideal humans. Any child born out of a match was to be killed and the parents stoned. Rebellious attitudes couldn't be passed on. Also with the birth laws were that matches were limited to four children and every woman was required to have at least one child. It was meant to keep the population controlled yet at the same time meant to raise the number of humans from around one-hundred and back to a much less detrimental number.

There were more laws than just that but those were the biggies. However, almost every law enacted by the strict government was laughed at by demons who had much freedom than humans while still having a larger population.

"So demons know our laws?" Sango asked, watching the fire lick the bottom of the pot which they were making stew in. Kagome was searching for an herb to make the stew more tasteful.

"We laugh at them."

Sango chuckled dryly. "They are very laughable. They were obviously made by a mad man who just happened to be a dictating tyrant. My mother's dead because of their laws. She was caught tending to my brothers wounds. She was meant to be a seamstress, that was it. She wasn't a priestess. It wasn't her duty. You'd think they'd let up, my family is made of demon slayers after all. If we had to go to a priest or priestess every time we got injured, we'd be living on shrines."

Rin came back in shortly afterwards and they ate the stew. Even with the herb, it was still pretty bland. No one complained though. It was better than nothing after all.

Kagome tended to his shoulder afterwards, Rin helping. Sango stepped out, disgusted by the scent of blood and medicine. It made her sick to her stomach because it reminded her of her mother.

These girls seemed to be exactly what the government pretended didn't exist. The ones scarred by the government. The ones hated and wanted dead. Even Sango could die if they found out she knew of the others existence without reporting it. They were meant to be dead yet they all lived better than any human he'd ever met.

* * *

A month passed by. The hut fell into a basic routine. Everyone would get up at dawn. Kagome would start breakfast and he'd watch over it while the girls went to bathe. When they came back, everyone ate. Kagome would tend to his shoulder and then he'd be off to bathe himself. When he came back, Kagome and Sango would have already left to go walking while Rin stayed behind and did whatever. They'd return mid-afternoon and have another meal. Kagome would change his bandages again and tend to his other injuries. Then Kagome and Rin would leave to find that night's dinner, leaving him with Sango. He enjoyed this time because Sango wasn't as out spoken as Kagome and Rin. She was afraid to say whatever she felt like saying and he admired it. Though he didn't always agree with everything she said and the amount of talking she did could get grating, he still liked it better than the early hours with the painfully shy Rin.

Once Kagome and Rin returned, dinner would be prepared and they'd all eat. Kagome would tend to his shoulder again, give him something for the pain and they'd all go to sleep.

He was healing quite well under Kagome's supervision. His shoulder was almost completely healed by now and though it was still painful to remember all the things he could do with one arm, he was starting to get used to doing things on his own of having someone help him do things. He didn't like having to rely on others but he learned quickly that he'd have to do that.

Today however, things were extremely different. Kagome had hurried home much sooner, a half-dead kitsune child in her arms. The wounds on him were similar to Sesshomaru's, save for the fact both of his arms were still intact. Lucky kit, he grumbled.

Rin rushed to help the priestess, quickly getting herbs, bandages, cloths, and water. Sesshomaru stood in the corner, watching the delicate procedure of stitching the kit's worst wounds shut and then the bandaging that covered him from head to toe. He looked more like a mummy than a kitsune.

Sighing, Kagome dipped her hands in a fresh bowl of water Rin had brought her and then dried them on a towel. Rin was busy outside cleaning bandages and cloths.

Kagome turned to meet Sesshomaru's golden eyes, her eyes filled with pain. He'd never realized how much pain medicine cause Kagome. She always seemed so happy to help.

"I've done my best. He'll survive."

Her eyes suddenly closed and she was falling. Everything felt like it was in slow motion as he used his demonic speed to catch her with one arm.

He couldn't pick her up and put her on the raised platform where all the futons were due to his one arm so he let her rest her head in his lap as he leaned against the wall. He felt her forehead, searching for a fever. Luckily, she didn't have one. She was just utterly drained. Maybe it wasn't just that she didn't have the powers that didn't allow her to become a priestess. Maybe she couldn't perform under such stressful conditions. Whatever it was, if this is what happened every time she helped someone in such bad condition, she wasn't fit for being a priestess.

* * *

"You're free to go now," Kagome said, undoing his bandage for the last time. He was completely healed now. He was glad, the constant changing of his bandages was tiring. He also had things to attend to and he'd been away long enough. It was almost required by the time that he left.

He nodded, pulling his haori back over his shoulder.

"Sesshomaru's leaving?" the little kit asked, tears in his eyes. Somehow, the kit had begun looking up to Sesshomaru like a father in the short time he'd been here. Maybe because he was the only male in a house of females or because he'd gone through the same thing. Whatever it was, the boy was attached and it was breaking his little heart to see him go.

Rin poked her head in, hearing the kit's voice.

"You're going?"

He nodded again.

Rin disappeared again. Who knew even she was attached to Sesshomaru. How odd.

He stood, bowed goodbye to the two of them and walked away without a word. Kagome was hugging the kit as he did this, more for her comfort than the kit's. Everyone here had become attached to him. Even he'd become attached to them.

* * *

It had only been a week since he'd left and he was staring at the hut once more. Only this time, when he left, they'd leave too. He'd arranged for Kagome to become a physician in his palace, Rin being her apprentice. Sango could do whatever she wanted and Shippou, the kit, could become a soldier once he was fully healed and if he wanted to.

He pushed aside the curtain, and found all of the huddled around the fire, eating stew. Rin's eyes grew large at the site of him, Shippou cried in joy, Sango smirked, and Kagome broke out into the biggest smile he'd ever seen.

It was kind of like a family being reunited and honestly, weren't they a family of sort?

**Finis**

AN: I was very tempted to add this sadly, having the government get to them before Sesshomaru. Sorry about the bad summary. Now I'm going to eat popcorn and watch gaming videos.


End file.
